The Week Ahead: A Slew of Clues Are Incoming

The stock market is coming off one of the most challenging weeks it has seen for some time: We witnessed lackluster corporate earnings, job cuts and currency issues, as well as weaker-than-expected purchasing managers index readings from China and the U.S. Thanks to all this, the S&P 500 dropped 2.8% for the week, erasing gains from earlier in the month and leaving the index down 3.15% so far in January.

While we could see more pain in the coming week, and possibly beyond that, this is also a time to revisit stocks that ran up big time in the last few months of 2013. As always, it's the prepared investor who can profit for the long term by identifying companies with favorable fundamentals -- and by buying when there is blood in the street.

In the next five days, unlike in the last two weeks, we'll have the pleasure of heavy-flowing earnings reports and economic data. More than 700 companies are due to report their quarterly earnings, and a significant percentage will offer their forecasts -- some just for the near term, and others for a bit longer. As I recently shared with The Street's Brittany Umar, for me the two key economic factors will be durable orders, scheduled for release Tuesday, and the personal income and spending report, which is set for Friday. But it's not the headline figures that I'll be watching. I'll be digging a few layers lower.

For instance, core capital-goods orders will shed some light on December manufacturing, and within this report I'll be looking to see confirmation of the activity dip seen in that month's Markit Economics Flash PMI. Given the hard weather we've been having here in the U.S., I would not be surprised to see at least a modest swoon.

With personal income and spending, I'll focus on disposable income, because that ties with discretionary spending. Those figures were essentially flat in October and November, but we also have to remember that those data were tainted by the government shutdown. If the numbers remain lackluster, it'll be a sign the U.S. consumer is still hurting -- and that would not be good for retail and restaurant stocks.

In terms of corporate earnings this week, it'll be a big one: The likes of Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), Qualcomm (QCOM), Facebook (FB), Caterpillar (CAT), Comcast (CMCSA), Boeing (BA) and Amazon (AMZN) are all due to report. That's just scratching the surface but, following the rash of outlooks that have been cut, investors will be putting the puzzle together and filling the picture in with pieces from those and other companies that are on tap this week.

For example, following poor results from Nokia (NOK) and Samsung last week, Apple, Google and Qualcomm are bound to shed some light on the state of the smartphone industry. I'll be examining this question in particular: Has the sector matured to the point at which we will see a seasonal pattern develop going forward, much like we do in other consumer electronic categories?

Another question will concern whether the tablet market is still growing, and that's a conversation that will loop in Amazon as well. I'll also be looking for answers about wearables: Are we close to seeing more? In the coming week, the one company that could have something interesting to say on that will be Corning (GLW).

Furthermore, what's going on real time in the emerging markets? Caterpillar, Colgate-Palmolive (CL) and others will help fill in that picture. Are consumers shunning cable services in favor of online viewing of content? Comcast will likely address that. Is the housing industry holding up? Tune in to D.R. Horton (DHI), ADT (ADT), M/I Homes (MHO) and Ryland Group (RYL).

Finally, are rising commodity prices -- in cocoa, beef, pork and chicken -- helping or hurting? Tyson Foods (TSN) and Hershey (HSY) will help answer that question this week.

Yep, there's a ton of data to be had this week, and to get your plan in place, here's a more granular look at the week ahead.